Tennis

BEIJING — Top-ranked Garbine Muguruza retired from her opening match at the China Open with a cold Monday. Muguruza dropped the first set 6-2 and was trailing 2-0 against Barbora Strycova when she decided to stop. “I couldn’t perform today,” said the Spaniard, who said she picked up a virus at the Wuhan Open last

Oct 2, 2017 Peter BodoTennis Close Peter Bodo has been covering tennis for over 35 years, mostly recently for ESPN. He is a former WTA Writer of the Year and the author of numerous books, including the classic “The Courts of Babylon” and the New York Times bestseller (with Pete Sampras), “A Champion’s Mind.” This

Johanna Konta‘s poor run hit a new low with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat by Monica Niculescu in the opening round of the China Open. The British No. 1 arrived in Beijing having lost her last four matches and searching for a first victory since mid-August. Romania’s Niculescu is not one of tennis’ star names but

David Goffin secured his first title in three years with victory at the Shenzhen Open. STR/AFP/Getty Images David Goffin boosted his hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals with his first title in three years at the Shenzhen Open. The Belgian had lost six finals since winning his second title in Metz in 2014

WUHAN, China — Unseeded Caroline Garcia of France won her first title of the year Saturday, beating Ashleigh Barty 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the Wuhan Open final. “A title is the best, it’s the best thing you can have in tennis. A big one or a small one, it doesn’t matter,” said Garcia,

WUHAN, China — On a sellout opening night at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open in Wuhan, central China, a huge roar rolls through the packed stands as Li Na walks on to the court. Li, 35, quit tennis in 2014, but Asia’s first Grand Slam singles champion is still very much the face of the

WUHAN, China — French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko beat Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the Wuhan Open quarterfinals on Thursday. Ostapenko came from a break down in the deciding set, winning the last five games to beat Muguruza for the first time and a world No. 1 for the first time. Jelena

Sep 27, 2017 Peter BodoTennis Close Peter Bodo has been covering tennis for over 35 years, mostly recently for ESPN. He is a former WTA Writer of the Year and the author of numerous books, including the classic “The Courts of Babylon” and the New York Times bestseller (with Pete Sampras), “A Champion’s Mind.” Venus

11:47 AM ET ESPN staff Second seed Timea Babos made the most of a gap in wet weather to progress to the semifinals of the Tashkent Open. The Hungarian took little over an hour to beat Stefanie Voegele 6-4, 6-4 as she bids to win her third WTA title. Babos will meet teenager Aryna Sabalenka

Sep 27, 2017 ESPN staff Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment Top seed Kristyna Pliskova is out of the Tashkent Open after suffering a 7-6, 6-1 defeat to Japan’s Kurumi Nara. Nara is ranked 109th in the world but produced an impressive performance to account for the Czech favourite, who narrowly lost an